(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a harness-applied armoring member, by which a bending direction and bending radius of a wiring harness between a vehicle body and a slide door is controlled so as to prevent the interference from occurring, and to a harness-arranging structure using the harness-applied armoring member. The wiring harness always supplies an electric power to the slide door of the vehicle such as a motor vehicle.
(2) Description of the Related Art
FIG. 18 shows a conventional structure, in which in order to always supply an electric power to electric equipment, an auxiliary and so on of a slide door 41 of a motor vehicle, a wiring harness 42 is arranged from a vehicle body (not shown) to the slide door and then the wiring harness 42 is bent and received in a protector 43 made of synthetic resin at the slide door-side, so that a slack of the wiring harness 42 occurring upon opening or closing of the slide door 41 is absorbed. Such a structure as described above is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open 2001-354085.
The protector 43 is disposed between a door panel 49 and a door trim 50. The wiring harness 42 is guided out from a lower opening 44 having a slit-shape of the protector 43 being directed toward the vehicle body-side and arranged from a front opening 45 of the protector 43 being directed toward an auxiliary and so on of the slide door-side. The wiring harness shown with a chain line corresponds to a state when the slide door 41 is fully closed as shown in FIG. 19 (plan view), while the wiring harness shown with a continuous line corresponds to a state when the slide door 41 is fully opened as shown in FIG. 20 (plan view).
In FIGS. 19 and 20, an abbreviation numeral 46 denotes a harness-fixing part, which is secured on a step part 48 of a vehicle body 47. The wiring harness 42 is swung (moved) back and forth pivotally around the harness-fixing part 46 upon opening or closing of the slide door 41. An abbreviation numeral 53 denotes a carrying handle.
As shown in FIG. 19, when the slide door 41 is fully closed, the slide door 41 is flush with the vehicle body 47. When the slide door 41 is being opened, the slide door 41 leaves the vehicle body 41 toward the outside and simultaneously moves backward. The wiring harness 42 is pulled backward (toward the harness-fixing part 46-side) upon being fully closed as shown in FIG. 19, while the wiring harness 42 is pulled forward (toward the harness-fixing part 46-side) upon being fully opened as shown in FIG. 20.
In the conventional harness-arranging structure for the slide door 41 as described above, although there is no problem in a state when the slide door 41 is fully closed as shown in FIG. 19, on the other hand, when the slide door 41 is fully opened as shown in FIG. 20, depending on a position at which the protector 43 is disposed, the wiring harness 42 easily tends to interfere with a center pillar and so on of the vehicle body 47 between the slide door 41 and the vehicle body 47 (i.e., a transition area 51) as shown with a chain line, therefore one must pay attention for the position at which the protector and so on should be disposed, causing consuming unnecessarily an excess period of time for designing. Further, in the event that the wiring harness 42 interferes with the others, the reliability of supplying an electric power is possibly deteriorated caused by the wear or deformation of the wiring harness 42 or the receiving characteristic of the wiring harness 42 into the protector 43 is possibly deteriorated.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to solve the above problem and to provide a harness-applied armoring member, by which an interference of a wiring harness with a vehicle body and so on can be prevented from occurring upon opening or closing of the slide door, and a harness-arranging structure using the harness-applied armoring member.
In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a harness-applied armoring member for inserting electric wires therein, wherein a bending radius of the armoring member varies depending on a bending direction of the armoring member.
With the construction described above, when a slide structure (for example, a slide door) of a vehicle is fully closed, the armoring member is bent with a small radius from a fixed structure (for example, a vehicle body)-side, while when the slide door is fully opened, the armoring member is bent with a large radius from a vehicle body-side, thereby when the slide door is fully opened, the armoring member can bend with a large radius without interfering with the vehicle body. Further, except for the case of the slide door, when electric wires (wiring harness) are being arranged into the vehicle body, even if the bending direction of the wiring harness is reverse between the right and left mounting positions of the vehicle body, the bending direction of the wiring harness can be easily securely changed at both right and left mounting positions of the vehicle body by using the same armoring member.
Preferably, the armoring member comprises a plurality of pieces connected with each other in series, each said piece having stopper parts for controlling a bending angle between the adjacent pieces, wherein the electric wires can be insertable in the interior of each said piece and a bending direction of a front half of the pieces is opposite to that of a rear half of the pieces.
With the construction described above, when the slide door is fully closed, the armoring member is bent for the rear half thereof, while when the slide door is fully opened, the armoring member is bent for the front half thereof, thereby when the slide door is fully opened, the armoring member can bend without interfering with the vehicle body. In the highly stiff pieces, the electric wires can be securely protected from an interference with the outside.
Preferably, an abutting angle or abutting position of the stopper part of the front half of the pieces is opposite to that of the rear half of the pieces.
With the construction described above, the bending of the armoring member can be securely precisely carried out, thereby an interference with the vehicle body can be more securely prevented from occurring.
Preferably, the armoring member comprises a plurality of convex strips formed in the circumferential direction of the armoring member and concave grooves formed between the adjacent convex strips, wherein the convex strips and the concave grooves are alternately arranged in the longitudinal direction of the armoring member, and an inner width of the concave groove varies depending on the bending direction of the armoring member.
With the construction described above, by flexibly responding to the oscillation and twist of the armoring member upon opening or closing of the slide door, a stress of the armoring member or a damage of the armoring member due to the stress can be prevented from occurring.
Preferably, the concave groove having a large inner width is arranged for a front and rear halves of one side of the armoring member and for a front half of an opposite side of the armoring member, while the concave groove having a small inner width is arranged for a rear half of said opposite side of the armoring member.
With the construction described above, when the slide door is fully opened, due to the concave groove having a small inner width of the rear half at the opposite side of the armoring member, an interference with the vehicle body can be prevented from occurring, and due to the concave groove having a large inner width of the front half at the opposite side thereof, the front half of the armoring member can smoothly respond to the movement of the slide door, thereby reducing a stress of the armoring member and improving the durability of the armoring member.
Preferably, the armoring member can be separated into a first divided tube including the concave grooves having a large inner width and a second divided tube including at least the concave grooves having a small inner width.
With the construction described above, by constructing the armoring member with a thin corrugated tube made of synthetic resin, the armoring member can be made to be lightweight with low cost. Since the corrugated tube is made in a divided shape, the manufacture of the armoring member can be easily carried out.
Preferably, the armoring member is formed integrally being made of resilient material.
With the construction described above, the electric wires can be more securely protected from an impact or oscillation from the outside.
In order to attain the above objective, the present invention is to provide a harness-arranging structure comprising:
a fixed structure;
a slide structure including a slack-absorbing device for absorbing a slack of electric wires; and
a harness-applied armoring member for inserting the electric wires therein, a bending radius of the armoring member varying depending on a bending direction of the armoring member,
wherein the electric wires are arranged from the fixed structure to the slack-absorbing device of the slide structure and the armoring member is disposed between the fixed structure and the slide structure.
With the construction described above, the electric wires can be securely protected between the fixed structure (for example, vehicle body) and the slide structure (for example, slide door).
Preferably, the armoring member is bent with a small radius from the fixed structure-side when the slide structure is fully closed, while the armoring member is bent with a large radius from the fixed structure-side when the slide structure is fully opened.
With the construction described above, an interference between the electric wires and the fixed structure can be prevented from occurring, thereby preventing the wear, deformation or damage of the electric wires and improving the reliability of the power supply to the slide structure.
Preferably, the fixed structure comprises a harness-fixing part to which the armoring member is connected.
With the construction described above, since the armoring member can be stably located between the slide structure and the fixed structure without shifting, therefore the protection and the control in the bending direction of the electric wires can be securely carried out, thereby further improving the reliability of the power supply to the slide structure.